Greetings from Dublin

Greetings from Dublin
I have found this great internet cafe near our hotel and I'm making the most of my time while Gary waits for our bags to be offloaded from the bus before we go exploring and find some place to eat dinner. The trip continues to be everything we hoped for! The Lakes District was breathtaking - it has been preserved (apparently greatly due to Beatrix Potter's conservation push) and is just how one would imagine English countryside to be. It is very popular with British tourists as well so was pretty busy as we were there on a weekend. Nonetheless we had a great time - cruised Lake Windermere, went on a steam train, saw Wordsworth's grave and just wandered through quaint villages - I loved it there. We stayed at the Hydro Hotel overlooking Lake Windermere - it was a lovely older style hotel with the smallest bathroom you have EVER seen...which wasn't a problem until everyone tried to shower in the morning and there was NO HOT WATER. Gaz was not impressed! But just to show how much he has grown during this trip he was heard to say to a fellow traveller later in the day "if that's the worst thing we have happen to us we will be OK". (I can tell you that is NOT what he was saying when the water was cold at 6am!!!!) Anyway, we survived and headed off for a lovely sightseeing day in the Lakes District. When we arrived in Warrington (lots of Rugby League towns nearby - St Helens, Wigan, Widnes etc) we dumped our bags and went on an excursion into North Wales with our tour director whose home town was nearby - it was such a quaint place and he took us to his local pub where we all had a pint (well I had to be different and have a chardonnay...or is that a shark 8...). The pub was an old corn mill and we sat by the banks of a river watching the water gush down and spin the water wheel...fantastic. We would all have been happy to stay there all night. But it was back to the hotel for a late dinner, hair wash, clothes wash and bed. I am still struggling with the stupid quilt/duvet thingies they have here and either end up freezing or boiling to death...but in Gary's words..."if that is the worst...bla bla bla". We set off this morning and had a couple of hours in Chester, a lovely old Roman town near the Welsh border - very pretty and interesting. A couple of short stops later (one at a castle and one in the town that has the longest name...which I will not attempt to type here or I will be here all night) and we arrived at Holyhead to catch the ferry to Dublin. Gary had been really worrying about this crossing because of possible seasickness and had been popping ginger pills all day. Well, they must have worked 'cause he was fine...though he did face inwards and not look out at the water once! I went up on deck and took photos of the retreating land and approaching land and came back to show him on the camera! We passed the nearly 4 hours very pleasantly with the new friends we have made - Trish & Michael from Brisbane, Jan & Clem from Ipswich & Gail & Kevin from Canberra - all really nice people...and Jan & Clem have 23 year old triplets which make for quite a few good stories! Gary is very excited to be here in Ireland so I'd better get back so we can go and explore. We have a city tour tomorrow morning, free time in the afternoon and then an Irish Cabaret complete with dancers, comedian etc tomorrow night so it should be a big day. Thanks for your emails and news...and in case you were wondering...yes...it's raining! loveP&G